Astronaut suffered 'mental anguish'

Associated Press (excerpt) ^ | February 7, 2007 | RASHA MADKOUR and DAVID CRARY

[HAL9000]

Excerpt -

HOUSTON - Lisa Nowak chose a juggling act of dauntingly high difficulty: to be an astronaut and a mother of three. Her background — high school valedictorian, Naval Academy graduate, test pilot — seemed to equip her for the challenge. Yet as she and some of her acquaintances acknowledged, the stresses on her and her family were extraordinarily intense.

On Wednesday, transformed from space hero to criminal suspect, Nowak returned to Houston for a medical assessment, a day after she was charged in Florida with attempted murder and attempted kidnapping in what police depicted as a love triangle involving a fellow astronaut.

The woman viewed as a role model by the schoolchildren she often addressed was met on the tarmac by police and escorted into a waiting squad car after her release on bail. Her head was covered by a jacket. She faced a medical exam at Johnson Space Center.

NASA, at a loss to explain what went wrong, said it would revamp its psychological screening process in light of Nowak's arrest. The review will look at how astronauts are screened for psychological problems and whether Nowak's dealings with co-workers signaled complications.

~ snip ~

[Lancey Howard]

knocking down our flag in the process.

Yes, the flag Sheila Jackson Lee was concerned the rovers would knock over.

[IIntense]

Then you are simply wrong.

I'm not knowledgeable as to the behavior of schizophrenics but I don't believe this or any other forum is a reliable venue for diagnosing this woman's mental health.

[IIntense]

Guess how I know.

Okay, I'll guess. Mother defends her "little boy"? Ergo, proof that he doesn't understand people.

Did you factor in "how I know" the fact that he's a dedicated family man? That he's turned down manager's positions because he doesn't want to be a "company man"?

Okay. I went on the defensive against perceived riducule. Yet I stick by what I said. When we carelessly label ANY group as being one and the same, we're ignoring the trees for the forest.

[woofie]

she dropped the ball

[Erasmus]

Didn't mean to ruffle your feathers.

The smileyface at the end of my post was meant to imply that I know this from personal, and I mean personal experience of about forty years.

[MaxMax]

It took 900 miles and an arrest to get her too "victim status".

[SkyPilot]

Thanks. And I hold you in great regard as a fellow officer, engineer, and patriot.

Blessings to you, and your family. Also, thanks for sharing about your beautiful son.

[azhenfud]

She spaced-out and went ballistic.

[Dr. Scarpetta]

"Nowak, right, with her two sisters, Andrea Rose on the left, and Marisa Terrenzi on the evening of Nowak's return from space in July of 2006 in Cocoa Beach, Fla."

[robertpaulsen]

A three year plan (you divorce your wife, I'll divorce my husband, and we'll live happily ever after) being threatened by a third party.

Two problems. One, she's confusing mutual professional respect for love. Two, the thrills are generated by the sneaking around. Once they were both "disengaged" from their spouses, it's just not the same -- not for him, anyways.

[Fitzcarraldo]

At some point one or the other became convinced it will mean giving up the Astronaut gig, a wholly undesireable sacrifice.

[mel]

Don't include me in your everybody. I have never wore a diaper, drove 900 miles to attack another woman.

[Lazamataz]

She needs to take a stress pill

She needs to take her protein pill and put her helmet on.

Ground control to Crazy Mom.

[Intolerant in NJ]

At this point, the other astronauts are probably wiping their foreheads in relief that she didn't decide to hijack the shuttle and crash it into Mars or something...as it is she seems to have taken a chunk of glamor out of the space program by making the public aware that astronauts wear diapers during launch and re-entry - something I'd as soon have never learned about.....